Twilight yawned and stretched as she woke up the next morning. She hadn't had the best night's sleep; worrying about what had happened to Stellar and the C.M.C. had kept her from slipping into deep sleep for nearly three hours, before she'd finally been able to relax enough to reach that state. But she felt rested enough to get up and do her morning rituals before heading down to breakfast.

Twilight got a nice welcome from Cadance as they encountered each other in the upper corridor. The two 'Sisters', as they now considered themselves, hugged close, and Twilight relaxed more in the arms of one of her oldest and dearest friends. "You look like you could use another eight hours' sleep, Twilight." Cadance suggested, as she took in Twilight's eyes and slightly-disshevilled look.

"Yeah, I could, I guess." Twilight admitted, as the mares headed down to the small dining room. "It took me ages to get to sleep last night, worrying about Stellar."

Cadance nodded. "That's only natural." She replied. "You haven't been this far away from Stellar before. Even when she's overseas on missions, you can still feel her presence within your shared magic. But, as you said before, you can't feel her anymore while she's so far away. That alone is stressing you, because you're so used to having her... 'there', just dwelling in the back of your consciousness all the time. It's always been a comfort to you, even if you hadn't realised it." Cadance told Twilight.

Twilight nodded, realising just how true Cadance's words were. "And now she's in Fold Space, she can't even send any messages back to us." Twilight added.

Cadance nodded and moved to Twilight to hug her comfortingly. Twilight sighed and leaned into the hug, returning it with gentle affection. She looked up at Cadance and softly said "Having you as my older sister is almost as good as having Stellar as my twin sister." She told Cadance.

Cadance gave Twilight an askance look. "Almost?" She asked in a querying tone.

"Well, yeah." Twilight answered honestly. "The only difference is the connection I have to Stellar. It makes us closer to each other than anypony else could ever be to us."

Cadance nodded. "I know, Little Sis." Cadance said with a soft, warm smile for Twilight. "And I am happy beyond belief that you think of me as your older sister, and not just a 'sister-in-law'." Cadance added.

"Why shouldn't I?" Twilight asked. "You were my comfort when Stellar left for Cloudsdale. You were there as well when Mother drove Grandfather and Stellar away from us again. I don't know what I would have done without you and Shiny to comfort me and get me back-on-track again. I was so despondent..."

"And rightly so." Cadance agreed as she interrupted Twilight's train of thought, before it derailed her good mood. "At least you're handling it much better this time around."

"At least being able to write to her helps." Twilight admitted. "And it's not like she's only fifty miles away in Cloudsdale, but I'm forbidden to contact her. She's so far away that being able to write is the only way of talking to her, and nothing I can do could get me out to her. So... I guess it's accept it or drive myself crazy, until she gets home again. At least it won't be that long." Twilight told Cadance.

Cadance nodded. "Very true." She agreed. "So, leave off the tears, Sis, and let's go play with Flurry after breakfast. You know the Cake Twins are wanting to see her again." Cadance grinned at Twilight.

"Yeah, once they settled their differences, Pumpkin and Pound have really taken to Flurry." Twilight agreed as they headed into the kitchen-dining area.

"And that's as it should be." Cadance replied.

After two days of just travelling in Fold Space, the Trio were getting sick of being stuck in their vacc-armor again. Stellar had been mostly leaving them alone on the bridge for long periods of time as she worked back and forth between the bridge tower and Engineering, seemingly pre-occupied.

After their shifts at the Helm, Sweetie Belle was still researching through the database of the Xerxes on their current problem; Scootaloo was adapting the Alpha-Beta combination she'd claimed as her own to running on the mana generators; and Applebloom was working away down in Engineering most of the time, becoming more familiar with the systems as she helped both her friends as well.

Then, as Sweetie Belle changed shifts with Applebloom, they were surprised to see Stellar walk out onto the bridge, her face inside her faceplate grinning. "Scootaloo, can you join the rest of us on the bridge? I have something to show all of you." She told the pegasus mare.

"Rojer that, Captain." Scootaloo replied back over the comm-system.

"What's this about, Stellar?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"An' what have ya been doing?" Applebloom added.

"All will be revealed when Scoots gets here, girls." Stellar promised.

Scootaloo trotted onto the Bridge about three minutes later. "I'm here, Captain." She said.

"Okay, my young mares, follow me." Stellar said, and led them off the bridge. Three doors down from the bridge, Stellar led them into a room. They found there was an airlock-type arrangement inside the outer door and, once inside they could see a rebuilt room that, they all knew after exploring the Bridge tower thoroughly, had been increased in size and plated in a silver metal. "Welcome to our new quarters, for now." Stellar told them all. Then, as the Trio gasped, Stellar's exo-armor retracted and disappeared. "Come on, it's safe in here now." She told the Trio.

Grinning with delight, the Trio retracted their vacc-armor and stretched, the relief of being out of their suits showing on their faces. "So... this is what you were working on?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Yes," Stellar confirmed. "There's a bathroom through there, we have several monitor stations and connections to the ship's computer in here, and the H-S pockets with our supplies in them are in here as well." She explained. "The walls are now lined with Adamant, so the mana this room's got filling it can't be sucked out of it. We can relax in here for as long as we like, after doing our shifts and other duties." Stellar pointed out.

"Finally!" Scootaloo said as she headed for the bathroom.

Stellar chuckled to herself as the other two cadets checked the rest of the new room over. "I'll go take this shift on the Bridge." She told Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. "You three get cleaned up, have something to eat and rest for now. We'll return to the normal schedule from end-of-shift after my next one." She told them.

"Aye, Captain!" The pair replied as Stellar let her armor return and envelop her, then she was gone.

Sweetie Belle took her turn in the bathroom as Scootaloo returned and started grooming and preening herself. The cleaning systems in their vacc-armor were okay, but they never seemed to do a completely-thorough job; not like having a real shower or bath did. And Scootaloo found it much easier to preen herself to perfection outside her armor, since she could actually see her wings and how the feathers lay against one another. As soon as Sweetie Belle came out, Applebloom walked into the bathroom, to see there was more than enough space for all three of them to enjoy a shower at the same time. Shrugging, she turned the shower on and stepped under it, moaning in relief as the very warm water pulsed along her spine and through her fur...

Applebloom groomed herself out in the bathroom, using the big mirrors along one wall to see what she was doing, before returning to the common room. Scootaloo was dead to the world, she saw, laying out on her back, wings spread and all four legs splayed out. Sweetie Belle was lying to one side, a tablet comp sitting between her front hoofs as she kept reading. Applebloom stretched out beside her and looked. "What'cha doin' Sweetie?" She asked.

"Continuing the research Stellar asked me to do." Sweetie Belle replied softly. "I'm trying to find out why the mana in the Xerxes keeps being drained while we're in Fold-Space."

"Oh, right." Applebloom nodded as she looked over the screen. "That looks complicated."

"Yeah, it is... but it's so much fun!" Sweetie almost squeed. "It is so far above anything we would have learned in Canterlot, even at the University. And I think I'm starting to truly understand this... this new Science."

Applebloom nodded. "Yeah, me too... at least the practical." She told Sweetie Belle. "A lot of tha theory is kinda above mah head, but if it requires hoofs-on work, I'm not findin' it that hard."

Sweetie Belle grinned at Applebloom. "Yes. You and I are working on the opposite ends of this Science." She told Applebloom. "And Scoots seems to be... well, maybe half-way between us."

"Yeah. She gets some theory, what she needs, an' a good deal of the practical." Applebloom agreed.

Sweetie Belle nodded in reply. "I think I'm going to remain as crew after we get back." She told Applebloom. "I don't want to go back to Canterlot High that much, really... maybe finish some of our studies there, but I want to keep learning this." She sighed. "I don't think the teachers at CH are going to understand most of what we now know."

"Ah have ta agree." Applebloom said. "Ah think that, when Ah get home again, Ah'm gonna tell Big Mac an' Applejack that Ah'm not gonna be workin' on tha farm anymore... at least in tha long-term. Ah'll stick it out fer as long as they need me, or when Ah turn eighteen... but then Ah'm gonna come back here as full-time crew. Mac and Cherilee's foal can have tha farm... or maybe Applejack's when she has a foal of her own. Farmin's just... not my life anymore."

Sweetie Belle nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean." She said to Applebloom. "I'm going to keep studying myself, until I know every bit of the Science this ship has in its database, and I know how it's applied to everything it has in it, as well as the universe we're out-and-about in, now." She smiled at Applebloom. "I want to go with Stellar when we come back out here in earnest, ready to face down anyone we find out here and hopefully make friends and allies out of them."

Applebloom chuckled. "Yeah, so do I." She agreed.

Stellar chuckled as she listened to the young mares in the Break Room. "You'll be coming with me, girls, if you pass the tests. I'll make certain of it." She stated to herself. "And I'm going to make sure you have every opportunity to do so, as well."

After she ended her shift on the bridge, Stellar joined Scootaloo down on the flight deck, which was shielded now from the mana loss-effect. Scootaloo was checking out the flight controls on the Alpha-Beta fighter, as Stellar was busy installing some new equipment into the thought-control systems the Protoculture used to work with. "So, how are these going to replace the protoculture thought-control systems?" Scootaloo asked as she sat in the cockpit, Stellar working away behind her inside the hatches.

"Well, I've been reading about how the Protoculture interacted with the thought-control systems." Stellar told Scootaloo. "Fortunately, the Haydonite didn't get to the written manuals in the tool room." She said. "As far as I can make out, it takes the signals from the brain's motor-control systems and sensory areas, such as for sight and hearing, and translates it across into signals the fighter's systems recognise as control inputs, similar to the ones from the flight controls in the cockpit." Stellar explained to Scootaloo. "It also feeds-back sensory data into the pilot the same way. Now, if I am right, there's a number of very old mind-control spells that, while normally forbidden to use on ponies, if I did them properly, they'll take the sensory-input from your mind and send it to the flight control systems the same way as Protoculture did. Likewise, others will input the sensory data the computers would normally send back into your mind, but without the 'controlling' effect the spells would normally have, because I'm effectively casting them on the computers, not on the pilots." Stellar looked down on Scootaloo.

"So... how are you doing that without casting them on each and every pilot?" Scootaloo asked.

"That's what these new boxes are for." Stellar answered. "They have the mind-control spells and a number of others engraved on plates of Magicirium inside them. Also, there are limiters built into the spells as well. I've rebuilt your new flight helmet as well, so it will interface with the standard connections in the seat. After all, our heads are built differently to Humans' heads."

Scootaloo nodded as she practised using the controls, making sure she knew how they worked and felt, until Stellar closed up the hatches. "Okay, Scoots, put your new helmet on, and we'll see how the interface works."

Scootaloo nodded in reply, then picked up the new helmet. It was different to her vacc-armor helmet in that it had a full faceplate, like Stellar's armor, leaving her entire face open to sight. Sliding it on, the armor it had contained within it slid out and encased her body once again. But this was a much-more streamlined suit, more like Stellar's combat armor than Scootaloo's vacc-armor. "Whoa..." She said, surprised and impressed. Then she felt a tickle in the back of her mind, and she closed her eyes...

Even with her eyes closed, she saw the cockpit around her, other displays appearing around her vision, even as she felt she could interact with the controls without even touching them. The start-up checklist came before her in her vision, unconsciously called up, and Scootaloo went through it with hardly a thought. She could almost feel the fighter's systems come to life all around her, as she accepted the feedback from the control systems. She almost felt like she was part of this fantastic machine...

Stellar smiled as she watched Scootaloo go through the start-up checklist, as she kicked off and floated down to the deck. She watched as the control surfaces went through their pre-flight movements on both the Alpha and Beta fighters, watched as the thrusters gave little spurts of gas as they were tested, then the three main engines of the Beta fighter gave little puffs as well, and then the pair of exhausts from the Alpha also showed they were working. Stellar called forth her Exo-armor helmet and armor, then connected to the fighter's comm-network. "Everything A-Okay, Scootaloo?" Stellar asked through the network.

"It's freaking awesome!" Scootaloo replied in a very excited voice. "Uh... everything's nominal, Captain. The control systems seem to be responding exactly as the old recordings showed. I can feel how much more responsive the controls are using the system. The simulator wasn't anywhere near this fast to respond to input." Scootaloo reported as she regained control of herself and remembered where she was.

"That's good, Scootaloo. Now, power her down and we can go over things again." Stellar told her, after stifling a snicker at Scootaloo's first comment. "By the time we reach Home, you'll be ready for your first real flight in her."

"I can hardly wait." Scootaloo replied as she gave the commands, and all the systems shut down again, eventually disconnecting her from the fighter as well. She shuddered slightly as the command inputs disappeared from her brain, but it didn't hurt or feel bad in any way to her. She retracted her new flight armor, then set the helmet aside in the cockpit before she floated out and headed for the floor. Zero-gee was so easy for Pegasi to adapt to, it hardly felt any different to flying.

Stellar retracted her armor, then grinned at Scootaloo. "Well done, Scoots. We'll finish adapting the Beta fighter to the new systems, then we'll upgrade a few more of these before we get Home."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Scootaloo replied, grinning as she and Stellar saluted. "Gonna give the Wonderbolts a real show when we get Home."

"That's for certain." Stellar chuckled as they headed back to work on the Beta fighter.

Sweetie Belle was about to give up and call it end-of-shift. She'd spent the days they were in Fold-Space trying to figure out why the Xerxes was being drained of mana, but nothing she'd come across explained it. Looking about, she saw Applebloom sitting, in her vacc-armor, at the control boards... when something struck her. She looked about her, seeing all the lights that were on, all the systems powered up... then she looked out the main bridge transparencies over the hull. Sweetie tilted her head to one side as she saw, under the dark pulsing of Fold-Space, there was a shimmering effect between it and the hull of the Xerxes. Frowning, she moved to the Engineering station and linked it in with the Science station's displays as well, her curiosity fully-engaged again.

Applebloom noticed Sweetie Belle's intense gaze as she looked over the displays, jumping from entry to entry about the Fold drive and Fold-Space itself. She'd just turned back to watch the helm monitors, when Sweetie Belle let out a huge squeal of delight, and shouted "THAT'S IT! THAT'S IT!" Sweetie Belle leaped from the Bridge dais and raced off, yelling "I GOT IT! I GOT IT!" Furiously as she left the Bridge.

Applebloom snorted "Whatever she's got, Ah sure hope she don't give it to me." She chuckled.

Sweetie Belle raced down the corridor, heading for the Safe Room. The mana-lock doors seemed to crawl open and closed as she nearly bounced in place, then she was inside the room. Retracting her armor, she saw Scootaloo and Stellar were lying down, studying as they relaxed. "Stellar!" She said in a slightly calmer voice. "I got it!"

Stellar and Scootaloo both looked up. "Got what, Sweetie?" Stellar asked.

"I know what's happening to all the mana, and how to fix it!" Sweetie Belle declared, grinning almost from ear-to-ear.

Stellar was on her hoofs as fast as she could, Scootaloo almost right beside her. "Do tell!" Stellar replied, also grinning. "Then we'll head back to the bridge and you can tell us all." She told the young mares.

Sweetie Belle nodded and they all summoned their various armors and headed for the bridge. "I've been trying to find out why we keep losing mana all the time." Sweetie Belle reiterated for everypony. "But then, this morning, I realised that it's only mana we're losing. Every other form of energy on the Xerxes isn't being affected."

"Well, yeah." Scootaloo said, looking skeptical.

"Hush, Scoots." Stellar told Scootaloo. "Go on, Sweetie."

"It made me wonder why all of the other energy isn't being drained." Sweetie Belle went on. "I then checked into Fold-Space itself. I had to dig into what little research had been done into Fold-Space, which isn't much, to be honest, but what I read told me that Fold-Space is a negative-energy zone. It's like Magicirium is to mana. Fold-Space soaks up every form and all energy it's exposed to. That's essentially why we need to keep pushing an enormous amount of energy into the Fold Drive constantly while we're travelling, because if we didn't, the fold-field around the ship would collapse in an instant, its energy sucked away into Fold-Space." She explained.

Stellar nodded. The young mare had really been digging deep into the ship's databases. "And so?"

"Well, I noticed this morning, as I was looking out the bridge windows, that under the fold-field is a shimmering layer of silver energy. It looked like a shield of some kind. When I cross-referenced the fold-field's specs with the data on Fold-Space, I found that it is a shield, one designed to keep all the normal energy in the ship from being drained away into Fold-Space!" Sweetie Belle grinned widely.

The others looked at each other. 'So... if there is a shield designed to keep energy in..." Scootaloo began.

"Why isn't it keepin' tha mana in as well?" Applebloom concluded.

"Because it's not tuned to do that." Sweetie Belle answered. "Humans can't feel mana, as far as we know, so they don't notice it being drained. Therefore they never programmed it into the shield's parameters."

"So, do we need to put up another shield or somethin'?" Applebloom asked.

"No, it's even simpler than that." Sweetie Belle grinned. "All we have to do is add mana's structure and frequency to the shield's programming, and it should re-tune itself to stop mana leaking out, like all the other energy forms." She revealed.

Stellar smiled proudly and nodded her head towards Sweetie Belle. "Well done, Sweetie. That was a very good piece of research work. Twilight would be as proud of you as I am." Stellar told Sweetie Belle, who grinned even as she blushed. "All right. Scoots, drop us out of Fold-Space. Sweetie, come with me to the Computer Room, and we'll re-tune the shield's parameters to keep mana in. Applebloom, go down and monitor the Fold Drive, to make sure the system accepts the retuning." She looked at them all. "We'll keep our suits on for the time being, just in case our first attempts fail to take. Once we're sure we can travel in Fold-Space without losing mana, then we can relax suit-discipline." She looked at the Trio. "Okay! Let's get busy!"

"Yeah!" The three young mares clopped their suited hoofs together, and Scootaloo jumped up and over the control console, to bring the Xerxes out of Fold-Space. Taking the lift down to Engineering, Applebloom raced off for the area where the Fold Drive control room was located, as Sweetie Belle and Stellar headed for the Computer Room.

Inside, Stellar opened her face-plate, since they were no longer in Fold-Space, as Sweetie Belle raised her visor. "Okay." Stellar accessed the main control programs for the Fold Drive, and entered her Master Access Password. All the Drive systems' programs became available to them. "All right, Sweetie, show me where you want the mana energy frequencies entered." Stellar asked.

"It's in here." Sweetie Belle went through five control menus, to bring up the Drive shield's inclusions folder. "The thing is... what do we put in here?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Stellar chuckled softly. "Remember when we retuned the sensors to detect mana?" She asked Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle's face lit up brilliantly. "Of course! Those parameters should work." She agreed, and entered them into the program folder. After getting a positive reply from the computer, Stellar called Applebloom. "Applebloom, does the control system down there show the changes we've made being listed or accepted?"

Applebloom had brought up the control programs for the shield down in the Fold Drive room, and as she saw the programming change, she replied "It looks like tha Drive's computer's accepted tha change." She replied.

Stellar nodded. "Excellent." She turned to Sweetie Belle. "Seal up, Sweetie. We'll do a static fold test of the systems, and see if the shield's accepted the new parameters."

Sweetie Belle nodded and closed her visor, sealing her vacc-armor. "Ready, Captain." She replied.

Stellar called out to Applebloom and Scootaloo "Applebloom, set the Fold Drive for a static test. Scootaloo, take all the normal engines off-line and prepare to activate the Fold Drive. Make sure your suits are sealed as well." She ordered.

"Aye Captain!" Came the replies, as the mares did as ordered. "Main engines off-line, Captain. Ready for Fold-test." Scootaloo reported back.

"Fold Drive is ready for static test, Captain." Applebloom replied not a second after Scootaloo.

Stellar smiled in appreciation of how competent the girls were becoming. Then Sweetie Belle asked "Stellar, are you going to seal your exo-armor up?"

Stellar shook her head. "No, Sweetie. My armor can supply me with enough mana to out-run the drain if it occurs, until the drive's shut down again. If this works, then it won't matter."

Sweetie Belle nodded with a smile, and turned back to the computer control panel. "Ready, Captain." Sweetie Belle said.

"Scootaloo, activate the Fold Drive." Stellar ordered, as she watched the outside of the ship through the external bridge camera.

As Scootaloo pushed the Fold activation lever forward, the Fold Drive powered up and the field formed. The ship's image wavered and vanished as the Xerxes dropped into Fold-Space without moving. The silver shield layer shimmered even brighter than before, and Stellar didn't feel the mana draining away from her as she had done three days ago. "Report, Cadets?" Stellar asked.

Sweetie Belle replied "Captain, there's no evident mana drain from the ship any longer." She grinned up at Stellar.

"Tha Fold-shield's systems report that they've adapted to tha new settin's, Captain." Applebloom reported.

"I concur, Captain." Scootaloo then said. "We're sitting stationary in Fold-Space, and the monitors aren't showing any signs that we're losing mana from the bridge."

"Okay, Scoots, bring us out of Fold-Space, power up the main engines again, recalculate for the distance we've travelled, then take us back into Fold-Space again. We're heading Home." There were cheers from the three young mares as the Xerxes slid out of Fold-Space, the main engines kicked back up to cruise speed again, then they shot back into Fold-Space again, as the four crewmembers retracted the armor and stretched again. "Okay, regular shifts again, Cadets." Stellar ordered, and headed for the bridge with Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle clopped hoofs with Scootaloo as she climbed up onto the Bridge dais, and settled into the navigation and science station as Stellar moved to the Captain's chair. "Yes... let's go Home." Stellar whispered to herself as Fold-Space blazed past the ship before them.

Later, after the main meal, Stellar tapped her cup and got the Trio's attention. "I have an announcement to make." Stellar told them. "Now, you're all cadets, but sometimes one cadet will show she can act in an exceptional manner in her field. I have not assigned ranks to you as yet, but now that we are on our way home, hopefully without any more interruptions, I am going to give you your ranks."

"Scootaloo: to you, I give the rank of Cadet Lieutenant, Junior; in Bridge Operations and Fighter Operations." She handed Scootaloo a small box which, when opened, showed a number of rank insignia for her uniforms.

"Applebloom: to you, I give the rank of Cadet Lieutenant, Junior; in Bridge Operations and Engineering." Stellar handed Applebloom another box.

"And to Sweetie Belle: I give the rank of Cadet Lieutenant, Senior; in Bridge Operations, Computer Operations and Science Department." Stellar told Sweetie Belle, whose eyes lit up brilliantly as she accepted her box.

Stellar then looked at Scootaloo and Applebloom. "Any questions?" She asked.

The mares shook their heads. "Nah. Sweetie deserves it, after figuring out the mana-drain problem." Scotaloo admitted.

"Yeah. Ah doubt if Ah could'a figured it out." Applebloom admitted. She patted Sweetie Belle on the shoulder and said "Congrats, Sweetie. It's well-deserved."

"Yeah. Congrats." Scootaloo agreed and patted Sweetie as well.

"Thanks." Sweetie Belle replied, as she found one of the insignia was on a chain, and she hung it around her neck. The other pair found the same and did similarly.

"Now, that looks better." Stellar declared, and hugged the Trio to her. "Congratulations, all of you. You've earned those ranks, believe me. When we get home, you'll proudly march out in your uniforms, and no-pony will doubt your positions aboard this ship." She told them. The Trio stepped back a few paces, lined up, and saluted Stellar, who returned their salutes. "Good work, all of you." She concluded.

"Thanks, Captain." The Trio said together, then they returned to their stations as Stellar cleaned up. Once she was seated on her chair behind the Trio, Stellar relaxed and just watched the light-years slowly pass...

Celestia was seated in one of her parlours, Twilight with her, as a messenger interrupted their lunch. "Your Highnesses! Urgent news." The guards-pony said, as he handed Celestia a large packet of messages. Frowning, Celestia opened the packet and started reading.

"What is it, Celestia?" Twilight asked.

"Very bad news, Twilight." Celestia answered. "Our embassy in Griffonia has been evacuated."

"Huh? Why? Twilight asked. "Surely the situation there isn't that bad."

"No, it's worse." Celestia revealed. "King Goodreach Brownclaw has been assassinated." That got a gasp of shock from Twilight. "It appears the Prince of High Reaches province has staged a coup against the Crown of Griffonia and siezed the throne. Prince Razorbeak Greatfeather has, apparently, gained control of the armed forces within the Capital and the support of Griffonia's army." She shook her head sadly. "I know assassination is a 'legal' method of regime-change to the griffons, but this is most unexpected."

"And our ambassadors?" Twilight asked.

"The Royal Griffonian Guard approached the embassy as the perpetrators' forces surrounded the capital." Celestia told Twilight. "They managed to get all of the embassy staff aboard one of our airships, and Captain Salient Weather managed to cross the coast before they realised the embassy was empty." She looked at Twilight. "I sent word to have everything of value removed from the embassy a week ago, when first word of the unrest reached Canterlot. It seems I was right in doing so." Celestia sighed.

"And thank Faust you did!" Twilight agreed with Celestia. "What now?" She asked.

"Now? What do you think I should do?" Celestia asked Twilight.

Twilight blinked, then started thinking "Well, first we reinforce the Coastal Guard, just in case they send any raiders our way." Twilight answered. "Also, we keep an eye out for refugees along the Griffonstone train-line. That's going to be a major way of escape for any fleeing the regime-change. And watch for ships, both fleeing the conflict or carrying troops. If I remember the reports about Prince Greatfeather, he hates Equestria after Grandfather nearly destroyed his family in the Draco-Griffon War. I'd bet he's going to attack after he consolidates his hold on the Throne of Griffonia."

Celestia smiled at Twilight. "Very astute, Twilight. I totally agree." She replied. "But also, we shall place various divisions of the Army around our coastal cities and Horseshoe Bay on Alert, and have reinforcements stand by. If Razorclaw attacks, it will not be with a small force, I am thinking."

"Yeah, you're right, Celestia." Twilight had to agree. "If only Stellar was here. She'd be the best one to lead our forces."

"We shall make-do, Twilight." Celestia said as she got to her hoofs, Twilight following her. "For now, let the other generals bring us to a state of readiness, and we shall plan for eventualities."

Twilight nodded as the pair of alicorns left the parlor and headed for the War Room.

Author's Notes:

Here's the next chapter!

Things are getting along for our intrepid travellers. But the situation back home has taken a bad turn. What will happen?

Wait and see...